2012 graduation ceremony at Harris Stowe State University in St. Louis, Mo. / Robert Cohen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via AP

by Julianne Malveaux, USATODAY

by Julianne Malveaux, USATODAY

How do you define a satisfactory undergraduate college experience? Does it mean that you graduate in four or six years? Does it mean that you carry a lower student loan debt than others do? Does it mean that you earn lots of money?

Well, it depends on the perspective that you choose to embrace. Last month, President Obama proposed plans to rate colleges based on metrics such as tuition, graduation rates, student loan debt and subsequent earnings. The ratings would then be tied to financial aid. The president's goal is to make college education more affordable and accountable.

Who would be against that? In fact, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) would suffer from each metric proposed by Obama, mostly because using general measurements for these institutions compared with other universities is like comparing apples with broccoli. There is little recognition for the very different populations that HBCUs and PWIs (predominately white institutions) serve, and that demographic differences often influence college outcomes:

Income disparities

The annual median income for African-American households is about $33,000 compared with about $52,000 for white families.

As a result, more HBCU students rely on student loans. But the Education Department raised the credit rating standards for Parent Plus loans, which led to a drop in the approval rates of HBCU applicants from 45% in 2011-12 to 24% in 2012-13. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that the tougher standards would be reconsidered next spring.

On average, HBCU six-year graduation rates were 33.7% in 2011 compared with a national average of 58%, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

Heavier loan debt

HBCU students graduate with more student loan debt than white students.

Last month, the black unemployment rate was 13% compared with 7.3% for the overall population. High black unemployment often means lower pay levels, an Obama metric, and is associated more with market conditions than student ability.

Though every institution of higher education must be held to a standard of accountability, HBCUs do more with less. HBCUs represent 3% of our nation's four-year universities, yet produce about 20% of black college graduates.

The Obama guidelines are a slap in the face to HBCUs, which have attempted to close racial economic gaps. The Obama administration can do better. They can adjust metrics to deal with those colleges that have high Pell participant. They can fix the Parent Plus fiasco that left more than 28,000 HBCU students stranded last fall. They can lift up those colleges, and embrace those students who step out, first generation, financially challenged against all odds.

Our president says he wants, again, to lead the world in high education attainment. Kicking our nation's HBCUs to the curb is hardly a way to attain his goal.

Julianne Malveaux is a D.C.-based economist and author, and president emerita of Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, N.C., an HBCU.